Minimal pairs: /ɒ/, /ɔː/ and /ɑː/ + British/American English

Ex. 1 Look at the following words containing the short vowel /ɒ/ and find their counterparts containing the long vowel /ɔː/.

bod, cod, cot, don/Don, god, Oz (Australia), sod it, stock, wad, what

Ex. 2 Look at the following words containing the short vowel /ɒ/ and find their counterparts containing the long vowel /ɑː/. Are these words minimal pairs in Standard American English?

Bobby, bot, cod, cot, comma, hot, logger, lock, mock, potty

Ex. 3 Look at the following words containing the long vowel /ɔː/ and find their counterparts containing the long vowel /ɑː/.

boar/bore, call, cord, core, dork, four, lord, more, ore, tore

KEY

1. bored, cord, court/caught, dawn/Dawn, gourd (also /gʊəd/), oars/ores, sordid, stalk/stork, ward, wart

2. Barbie, Bart, card, cart, calmer/karma, heart, lager, lark, mark, party

Standard American English does not have a short vowel /ɒ/ but uses long /ɑː/ instead. Since all of the words in the answer key contain postvocalic [r], which is pronounced in SAE but not British RP, the difference in American English would be that
of /ɑː/ and /ɑːr/, not /ɒ/ and /ɑː/.

3. bar, Carl, card, car, dark, far, lard, mar, are (full form), tar

Minimal pairs: /ʌ/ and /ɑː/

Ex. 1. Look at the following words containing the short vowel /ʌ/ and find their counterparts containing the long vowel /ɑː/.

buck, bud, budge, cup, cut, duck, dulling, hut, luck, muck, musk, must (full form), stuck, tusk

Ex. 2. The following words tend to be mispronounced by Polish speakers, who often use the vowel /a/, e.g. both love and laugh as /laf/ or /la:f/. Which of these words contain a. /ʌ/; b. /ɑː/; c. another vowel?

grass, mayor, front, doll, burn, parent, Dublin, dull, past, draft, bust, Hamburg, last, worry, darts


KEY Ex. 1. bark, bard, barge, carp, cart, dark, darling, heart, lark, mark, mask, mast, stark, task
Ex. 2. a. /ʌ/ front, Dublin, dull, bust, worry
b. /ɑː/ grass, past, draft, last, darts
c. burn, doll, parent, mayor, Hamburg

Minimal pairs: /æ/ and /ɑː/ + British/American English

Ex. 1. Look at the following words containing the short vowel /æ/ and find their counterparts containing the long vowel /ɑː/. Are these words minimal pairs in Standard American English?

at (full form), back, bad, badge, ban, bat, cat, cattle, chat, Dan, hat, lack, lad, mac, mat, pat, tat

Ex. 2. Which words have /æ/ in American English and /ɑː/ in Received Pronunciation? How about the vowels in the remaining words?

gas, aunt, pass, bath, father, pat, class, math(s), mass, answer, example, ask, can't, task, mask, last, clap, barn


KEY: Ex. 1. art, bark, bard, barge, barn, Bart, cart, cartel, chart, darn, heart, lark, lard, mark, mart, part, tart These words also contain /r/ in Standard US English, so they aren't minimal pairs.

Ex. 2. /æ/ in American English and /ɑː/ in RP: aunt, pass, bath, class, math(s), answer, example, ask, can't, task, mask, last 
/æ/ in both: gas, pat, mass, clap   /ɑː/ in both: father, barn (+ /r/ in US English)

Pronunciation: nonsense words

This exercise asks advanced English learners to use their general knowledge of English pronunciation in order to decide whether the following non-existent words could be used in English. It is similar to exercises that can be found in linguistics textbooks, e.g. The Study of Language by George Yule (Cambridge: CUP; I have the 2nd edition of 1996).

Ex. Look at the following words and their pronunciation. Would it be possible to have such words in English? If not, why not?

1. glom /glɒm/   2. sarpck /sɑːpk/   3. cra /kræ/   4. lpome /lpəʊm/   5. locious /'ləʊʃəs/   6. xane /kseɪn/   7. jooly /'dʒuːli/   8. lagly /'lægli/   9. ftroo /ftruː/   10. ippy /'ɪpi/   11. quider /'kwɪdə/   
12. ploh /ploh/   13. zock /zɒk/   14. drunting /'drʌntɪŋ/   15. toor /tuːr/

KEY: Possible: 1, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14
Impossible: 2 (the syllable-final cluster /-pk/); 3 (a full short vowel at the end of a word); 4 (the syllable-initial cluster /lp-/); 6 (the syllable-initial cluster /ks-/; a word spelt this way would have to begin with /z-/); 9 (the syllable initial cluster /ftr-/); 12 (word-final /h/); 15 (/uː/ is not followed by /r/; a word spelt this way would be pronounced like "tour").

Minimal pairs: /æ/ and /ʌ/

Ex. 1. Look at the following words containing the short vowel /æ/ and find their counterparts containing the short vowel /ʌ/.
ankle, bad, ban, bat, cat, dab, dad, dam, Dan, fan, hat, lack, mad, mash, nan, rag, ram, ran, rang, rash, rat, Sam, sap, stack, tag, tan

Ex. 2. Find five words which contain the vowel /ʌ/.

butcher, one, cute, look, plumber, rune, numb, body, minute, comb, crumbs, bury, Murphy, London, Boston, burn, room

KEY: Ex. 1. uncle, bud, bun, but (full form)/butt, cut, dub, dud, dumb, done, fun, hut, luck, mud, mush, nun, rug, rum, run, rung, rush, rut, some (full form), sup, stuck, tug, ton/tonne

Ex. 2. one, plumber, numb, crumbs, London

Halloween Special

Ex. Paraphrase the following sentences using the words provided so that the meaning remains as similar as possible.

1. What would you do if you saw a real vampire?
Supposing .....................................................................................................................
2. This is the most frightening film I've ever seen!
Never ...........................................................................................................................!
3. People believe that this castle has been haunted for centuries.
This castle is ................................................................................................................
4. There are rumours that a banshee can be seen wandering at night.
a. Rumour ....................................................................................................................
b. It is ..........................................................................................................................
5. The witch scared me out of my wits!
The witch ................................................... daylights ................................................!
6. I've never used a ouija board till now.
This is the ....................................................................................................................
7. It's impossible you saw H. P. Lovecraft in Providence. He's been dead for 81 years.
You can't .................................................................. He died .....................................
8. If you think Alien is based on a true story, you are crazy!
If you think Alien is based on a true story, you ............................................... belfry!
9. I can't stay up late - I get sleepy at 10 pm.
I can't stay up late - ...................................................................... pumpkin at 10 pm.
10. The scientist presented a terrible image of life after climate change.
The scientist ..................................... picture of life ............. wake of climate change.
11. Mr Smith says he was abducted by aliens.
Mr Smith considers ................................................... alien .......................................
12. Why don't you make your own Halloween costume?
How ...........................................................................................................................
13. When I scared Frances, she screamed loudly.
When I scared Frances, she .......................................................................... murder.

KEY
1. Supposing you saw a real vampire, what would you do?
2. Never (before) have I seen a more / such a frightening film!
3. This castle is believed to have been haunted for centuries.
4a. Rumour has it that a banshee can be seen ....
4b. It is rumoured that a banshee can be seen ...
5. The witch scared the living daylights out of me!
6. This is the first time I have used a ouija board.
7. You can't have seen HPL in Providence. He died 81 years ago.
8. ... you have bats in your belfry!
9. ... I turn into a pumpkin at 10 pm.
10. The scientist painted a grim picture of life in the wake of climate change.
11. Mr Smith considers himself to be/have been an alien abductee.
12. How about making your own Halloween costume?
13. ... she cried/yelled blue murder.

I used The free Dictionary at www.thefreedictionary.com to make sure I used the idioms correctly. Happy Halloween, whatever you are!

Minimal pairs: /e/ and /æ/

Both sounds are difficult for Polish learners. While pronouncing Polish /ɛ/ instead of English /e/ is not a problem that would lead to misunderstandings, using Polish /a/ or /ɛ/ (or even the nasal diphthong spelt <ę> in Polish) instead of /æ/ is admittedly a far greater obstacle to intelligibility. Speakers of other Slavic languages may find this exercise equally useful.

Ex. 1. Look at the following words containing the short vowel /e/ and find their counterparts containing the short vowel /æ/.

bed, beg, Ben, bet, dregs, fret, Jen (Jennifer), Ken, kept, leg, men, merry, neck, net, peck, pen, pent, pet, petty, rep, said, set, shell, spend, wrench

Ex. 2. In each set of words choose the one which does not contain the vowel /æ/.

a. mad, plan, Japan, Malta   b. hall, trap, hat, lap   c. lad, flat, wad, pad   d. tad, pack, paste, damp

e. tag, ball, span, lack   f. many, crammed, tan, ran

Key
Ex. 1. bad, bag, ban, bat, drags, frat (a fraternity in the USA), Jan (Janine), can, capped, lag, man, marry, knack, gnat, pack, pan, pant, pat/Pat, patty, rap, sad, sat, shall (full form), spanned, ranch (also with /ɑː/)
Ex. 2. a. Malta, b. hall, c. wad, d. paste, e. ball, f. many